New Years Eve
by StrawberryFields4EverAndAlways
Summary: Last year, I did a Christmas thing, but since I sort of missed the boat on Christmas this year  and apparently so did Jack , I decided to make a New Years piece instead.  Rated for some language.  Rose/11


**Some things I don't own: Doctor Who, Torchwood, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, New Years Eve, Converse, Cherry Coke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Princess Bride, the BBC, or This Is Spinal Tap.**

The first thing Jack Harkness felt when he awoke after quite some time was an excruciating headache and a wet rag on his forehead. He sat up quickly and yelped.

"Not so fast, Jack," said a soothing voice.

"Ianto?" Jack implored, his eyes closed.

"Do I seriously sound like a man to you?"

"Yes- I mean, no, of course not, Gwen," said Jack, blinking rapidly on account of the bright light. "What day is it?"

"Oh, you've been asleep for ages. It's Thursday. Thursday, December 29th. "

Jack sprang out of bed in a flash, and then nearly fell back in bed. "Holy shit, I've missed Christmas." It was true. He'd been at a really great Christmas Eve party somewhere in the proximity of Betelgeuse. He must have had one Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster too many, and had now slept through four straight days, including Christmas.

He recalled the previous year's festivities. That "Twelve Days of Christmas" was great. Even before then, his rendition of "Jingle Bells" knocked Rose and the Doctor's socks off. And this year, he'd missed Christmas. Somehow, Christmas had managed to happen without him.

Sadly, Jack turned on the TV and immediately saw a commercial for some silly American movie called "New Years Eve" and it seemed to be one of those ones featuring every single person who has ever made a movie. But it gave him an idea. So what if he missed Christmas? There was still New Years Eve.

%%%

The beach is a nice place to visit. However, if you live directly on top of one, it rather loses its magic after a while. And if that beach happens to be your prison, you tend to wish you could race madly through the stars again.

Rose Tyler sat in the sand like she did hour after hour, day after day, staring at the place from which she'd watched that beautiful TARDIS vanish for the very last time. A hand, a hand that was all at once familiar and strange, came to rest on top of her pretty blonde head. The Human Doctor sat down beside her, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Would it kill him to wear a pinstripe suit and Converse once in a while?

"Rose," he said with his kind voice, his familiar and strange voice, "Please, I want to be with you. Can you at least give me a good reason why I'm not good enough?"

She turned away from him. "You aren't real. Well, of course you're real, but you're not really HIM."

The Human Doctor sighed. "Is anyone?"

At that moment, there was a peculiar little buzzing sound, and out of thin air popped the one and only Jack Harkness. "Hey, Rose," he said with that debonair grin of his, "You'd better come with me quick. I'm blowing up about half a dozen galaxies trying to pick you up."

Rose warily got to her feet. "Jack, what's going on?"

Jack shook his head. "No time to explain, Blondie. Just grab my arm and I'll tell you when we get there."

The girl held on tightly to his arm, the buzzing resumed, and they vanished.

%%%

After the mess by the lake, the Doctor felt both lucky and cursed to be alive. He now roved about, avoiding conflict whenever possible and keeping his life-screwing-up to a minimum. He now found himself in a bar on the planet Nanool, which was a famed outpost for outlaws and fugitives. If there was one place where the Doctor fit in, this had to be it.

The Doctor sipped his Cherry Coke with a twisty straw, listening to the small, squirrely man next to him. "I'm from an alternate universe, see. Worked for a big computer company and all, helped create the HAL 9000 series. I don't think there's a person alive in my universe who doesn't know what kind of mess THAT created."

The Doctor nodded. "I've nearly destroyed the universe more times than you could count. Not on purpose, or anything. I just wanted to do some good in the world, and ended up ruining everything."

The squirrely man bit his lip. "To be honest, I think you beat me."

"Of course I did!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I'm the King of Catastrophic Failures, Screw-ups, and General Ruination. That's what I'm called now." He paused. "Well, no, not really. But still-" He gestured emphatically, unfortunately with the hand that held his glass of Cherry Coke. It splattered all over a very large humanoid alien in a suede jacket.

"You just made one of the classic blunders," said the alien in a dangerously calm voice, getting to his feet.

The Doctor looked uneasy. "Going against a Sicilian when death is on the line?"

The alien looked confused. "No… Ruining my new jacket."

"Well, I'm very sorry," said the Doctor, "May I recommend a most excellent dry cleaner?" He began to stand and inch towards the door, but the alien clamped an enormous hand on his shoulder.

"You aren't going anywhere, little guy."

"Actually," said a very familiar voice, "he's coming with me. "

"Jack? How did you find me? What are you doing?" asked the Doctor as they practically ran from the bar.

"No time to talk. I need to get you back to Torchwood HQ, and fast."

He began pressing buttons on his vortex manipulator, but the Doctor tapped on his shoulder and pointed to a large blue box standing nearby. "TARDIS."

"Good point," Jack said. They piled in, the Doctor quickly fiddled with some instruments, and the air was filled with the sweet sound of the TARDIS dematerializing. "I like what you've done with the place."

The Doctor looked around as the TARDIS zoomed through space. "Oh yeah, you haven't been in here since I…redecorated."

%%%

As they entered Torchwood HQ, the Doctor asked, "So what am I here for?"

Jack gave him a mischievous smile. "It's New Years coming up soon, so I thought I'd do something nice for you. You know, New Years is for starting over. But New Years Eve is for getting in touch with your past one last time before letting it go."

The Doctor passed a TV that was playing the BBC evening news. The anchorman said, "Astronomers were baffled today when six galaxies near ours spontaneously combusted in unison. Dr. Norman Shepherd of Surrey stated, 'Dozens of galaxies spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported.' If you ask me, a disturbing event such as this is a curious time to misquote Spinal Tap. And now to Jim with the weather."

The Doctor looked at Jack suspiciously. "Jack…what did you do?"

"You'll like it, I promise."

They entered another room, and the Doctor heard a voice that made both of his hearts leap into his throat. "Jack, that's not the Doctor."

Rose. Rose Tyler. She was there. But she couldn't be. Could she? Softly, he said, "I am. I am the Doctor."

She approached him slowly. He still couldn't believe she was there. She touched his hair curiously, giggled a little at his bow tie. Oh God, he'd missed that laugh.

She looked into his eyes- they were kind of hazel now, and saw youth, age, energy, weariness, pain, and love. All of the things that made the Doctor the Doctor.

Jack nudged the Doctor with his elbow. "You know, New Years Eve is also the day for tying up loose ends."

The Doctor nodded. He understood.

"Like saying goodbye to me?" asked Rose sternly. "The last time we saw each other, years ago, you didn't even say goodbye."

The Doctor smiled sadly. "I hate saying goodbye. There's a finality to it that I absolutely cannot stand. With me, there's always a next time. You don't know where or when it will be, but-" he shrugged- "Here we are."

"So what is this loose end?"

The Doctor grinned. Rose had known him with two other faces, and yet that grin never really changed. "Well, I believe your little human version of me already whispered it in your ear. I wanted to say it myself, but I couldn't find the right words. Which is funny since there are only three of them. But anyway, what I'd like to say, about three years too late, is this: I love you."

Crying, Rose Tyler fell into the Doctor's arms, and of course there was an amazing kiss scene, but I don't really write those very well without turning them cheesy, so let's just say they had their New Years Kiss, but suddenly, the Doctor only held thin air.

Jack coughed, looking uncomfortable. "I forgot to mention the time limit, didn't I?"

If you've ever experienced the wrath of a Time Lord, I'm sure you could sympathize with the poor Captain.

**Happy New Years, my dear readers!**

***crash* *boom***

**Doctor: I'M GOING TO KILL YOU.**

**Jack: AAAH. NOT THE FACE.**

**Me: BOYS. STOP. Well, while I keep Mr. Grumpy from tearing Jack to pieces, please take the time and review. It makes me happy.**


End file.
